The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

From Goodreads.com
   Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper may not be the prettiest girl in her high school, but she has a loyal group of friends, a biting wit, and a spot-on BS detector. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. But things aren't so great at home and Bianca, desperate for a distraction, ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

    This is a cheesy YA book. Predictable? Sure. Did I care? Heck no. It was a great just-forget-the-world-for-a-few-hours book. I admit, I was hoping the ending would surprise me, but I wasn't disappointed. As the book was drawing to a close and I was reading what I now know to be the last paragraph, I was so wanting just one more chapter. I would definitely call this book a "guilty pleasure."
   The DUFF has some of your standard coming of age themes. I don't want to completely spoil the ending (as predictable as it was) but I like what the author did with the word Duff in the last few chapters. Words really only have the power you give them, they're just words after all.
      I recommend it to older young adults, maybe 14-15 years and older. The "enemies with benefits" thing...I'm just not sure how I feel about teens reading that, it really sends a poor message. Adults (probably women) who enjoy a light read would also have fun reading this I think.

Revival by Stephen King

From the hardcover:
   In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing in the yard with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Reverend Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs-including Jamie's mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
   Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family's horrific loss. In his mid-thirties - addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate - Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that "revival" has many meanings.
   This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. it's a masterpiece from King, brilliantly illustrating why he "is right at the center of an American literary taproot that goes all the way down...to Hawthorne, to Poe, to Melville" (Margaret Atwood The New York Times Book Review.)

   I should tell you upfront, I like Stephen King. I haven't read every book he has written, but I've read quite a few and love them all. Revival is no different. I didn't want to put it down. King has created one creepy (fictional) human in Reverend Jacobs. There really wasn't a moment in this whole book that I trusted him even a little.
   I expected an interesting ending after reading a few reviews on Goodreads.com and even the synopsis on the book. The ending is definitely haunting. One of his best ever? I'm not sure, but I finished this book about a week ago and I'm still thinking about that ending.
   I know this recommendation isn't a lot to go off of, but the synopsis sums up the book extremely well so I don't have much to add to it. I'd recommend this to fans of science fiction. Also, if you haven't yet read Stephen King or are a casual reader of his works, I'd choose this to be one of the books you read. It's a great stand alone book and while being exceedingly eerie it isn't particularly scary.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

From the paperback:
  When The Fountainhead was first published, Ayn Rand's daringly original literary vision and her groundbreaking philosophy, Objetivism, won immediate worldwide interest and acclaim. This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. This edition contains a special Afterword by Rand's literary executor, Leonard Peikoff, which includes excerpts from Ayn Rand's own notes on the making of The Fountainhead. As fresh today as it was then, here is a novel about a hero-and about those who try to destroy him.

   The Fountainhead was our first randomly drawn Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge book. It was a great way to kick off such a list. It was told in four parts each concentrating on a different character type. I admit it was slow going during a couple of them, reading this took a little longer than I anticipated.
   I loved Roark. I love his courage to unflinchingly stick to his beliefs. I love that he has no care of most people's opinions. I love that he's so incredibly sure of his self and his passion. I think that one of my favorite things about this classic is that our hero is actually an atheist, but an atheist with a belief in something. A belief so strong that he lives his entire life while staying true to this uncommon and misunderstood belief.
   A person's beliefs are extremely personal, no matter what they may be. I like that Ayn Rand created this strong, nearly perfect man, who does not conform to a more traditional belief system. I think that belief in something is important, to have some guide for your personal morals and I liked that Roark's wasn't based on a belief in a higher power. Instead it was something he felt within his self to be right.
   There's a great reason this book has become a classic. I'm sure it could be and has been dissected in a hundred different ways, but as a pleasure reader I liked most of the characters, and loved to hate one particular character. I enjoyed going along with Roark on his life journey.